PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Food waste in Tunisia hits US$197 million per year
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - Food wasted in Tunisia represents 5 percent of food expenditures per year (572 million dinars or US$197 million), according to the Tunisian National Institute for consumption.
In a press statement, the director of the institute, Tarek Ben Jazia, indicated that ''the level of food waste is morally unacceptable (since) the country has, at the same time, 600,000 Tunisians who suffer from malnutrition''.
According to studies and research by the institute, bread is the most wasted food, indicating that nearly 2.7 percents of Tunisian families squander 113,000 tonnes of bread per year (15.7 pc of the total purchases of bread), equivalent to 100 million dinars.
The waste of flour for the production of bread by the 3,170 classified bakeries in 2017 is 686,000 tonnes, being 10.4 pc of the quantities of the subsidized flour.
The waste also affects 11 pc of meals prepared in university restaurants, being the equivalent of 3 million dinars per year and 16 pc of meals in private restaurants.
The studies show that the volume of products wasted in supermarkets reached at least 2.8 million dinars per year, while the waste in hotels is estimated at about 12 pc of the total meals prepared.
Jazia also indicated that bread is the most wasted product in Tunisia, despite the significant subsidy which it enjoys, estimated at 450 million dinars in 2017.
The institute, in partnership with the FAO, is organizing a conference on Thursday, on the theme ''food waste in Tunisia: its volume and the means to end it''.
-0- PANA YY/IN/JSG/BBA/VAO 22Nov2018
In a press statement, the director of the institute, Tarek Ben Jazia, indicated that ''the level of food waste is morally unacceptable (since) the country has, at the same time, 600,000 Tunisians who suffer from malnutrition''.
According to studies and research by the institute, bread is the most wasted food, indicating that nearly 2.7 percents of Tunisian families squander 113,000 tonnes of bread per year (15.7 pc of the total purchases of bread), equivalent to 100 million dinars.
The waste of flour for the production of bread by the 3,170 classified bakeries in 2017 is 686,000 tonnes, being 10.4 pc of the quantities of the subsidized flour.
The waste also affects 11 pc of meals prepared in university restaurants, being the equivalent of 3 million dinars per year and 16 pc of meals in private restaurants.
The studies show that the volume of products wasted in supermarkets reached at least 2.8 million dinars per year, while the waste in hotels is estimated at about 12 pc of the total meals prepared.
Jazia also indicated that bread is the most wasted product in Tunisia, despite the significant subsidy which it enjoys, estimated at 450 million dinars in 2017.
The institute, in partnership with the FAO, is organizing a conference on Thursday, on the theme ''food waste in Tunisia: its volume and the means to end it''.
-0- PANA YY/IN/JSG/BBA/VAO 22Nov2018
